Nabiki began pacing frantically in the room, trying to think of a way to allow JT to escape undetected so her father wouldn't kill him for spending the night in her room. JT didn't understand why it took so long to ponder; there was a window right in front of them. He walked over to the window and opened it, moving carefully to the outside of the house. Then he slipped, falling down and landing on one unsuspecting Ranma, who promptly proceeded to punt him into the pool. Distraught and disfigured, JT emerged from the pool in his golem form. He couldn't deal with this right now. He walked clumsily over to the dojo and knocked lightly on the door, although still making a hole in it. Kasumi opened it at didn't miss a beat as she stared at the golem and asked "Do you want some hot water, JT?". JT shook his head yes, and Kasumi walked out to the kitchen, returning moments later with a kettle. As she lifted the kettle to dump it on him, she intercepted her with a halting hand, which he then held out flat in front of him. "You want to do it yourself?" Kasumi asked. JT silently nodded, taking the kettle in his right hand and suddenly thinking "how the hell am I gonna get clothes if I can't fit thru the door?" "Would you like me to go upstairs and get you your backpack?" Kasumi asked. Could she read minds? He was amazed time and time again by Kasumi's talent for sensing what other people were feeling or thinking...He nodded his head and Kasumi walked upstairs into the guest room, returning moments later with JTs backpack. He took the backpack in his left hand and walked out behind the dojo, enclosing himself in a cluster of trees where (he hoped) no one would see him. He dumped the water over his head and tensed as the hot water doused him. When he finished reverting, he noticed that his instinctive fist-clenching, due to the hot water, had completely crushed the kettle into a mangled mass of metal. "oops", he thought. He quickly donned a pair of boxer, a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans, then walked back to the house, where Kasumi relieved him of the mangled kettle without a second thought. "What time was it?" he thought. It seemed pretty early. He looked at the clock and realized he had school in 2 hours. He decided to leave now and wander a bit. He needed some time alone. Some time to think. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ultimate Curse: Episode 4 Based on characters created by Rumiko Takahashi Written by JT Thibault Send rants and raves to aoi.ikazuchi@juno.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As he wandered around Nerima, he took careful note of his surroundings, knowing that if he missed anything he would never make it to school on time. As he turned down one road, he saw a familiar figure slumped against the wall, apparently asleep. "Ryouga!" he yelled at the sleeping man, who stirred for a moment before he opened his eyes. Ryouga looked up at JT and laughed nervously. "Heh heh...you probably want to know why I was sleeping in this alley, huh? Well, I kind of left my backpack at the Tendo dojo, and my tent was in there, so..." "That's horrible! Why didn't you just come back to the dojo? I'm sure you could've stayed there!" Ryouga lowered his eyes and stared at the ground, apparently embarassed. Immediately JT realized what he had said wrong. "Ryouga, I'm sorry. I forgot about your direction problem..." "It's OK. I'm used to it. Sleeping outside, that is. I've done it many times." "Say, Ryouga...why don't you come to school with me today! After the school day is over, I can take you to the dojo!" "It sounds easy enough. Agreed. Now, do you know where Furinkan high is?" JT smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do..." he said, and they walked out of the alley and headed left. As they approached the school, JT once again turned around to redirect Ryouga in the right direction. JT understood now how it was possible for him to get lost so easily; when given a direction to travel in, he would almost always turn and walk in the opposite direction. He had almost lost Ryouga five times on the walk to school. This offered further insight as to why Ryouga didn't attend school; You can't expect to pass if you're only there 5 days a quarter... They arrived at the doors of the school, a massive crwod lying in wait for Akane and Ranma. Ryouga looked curiously at the group. "What's going on here?" Ryouga asked. "An upperclassmen named Kunou is in love with Akane, and he made a speech declaring that if anyone wanted to date Akane, he would need to best her in combat first. So all these sorry fools are trying to beat Akane, for some reason thinking that if they win, she'll actually date them." JT looked at Ryouga and could see he was angry. His fists and teeth were clenched and his eyes had contorted into a look that could only be described as pure hatred. He looked at JT and tried to compose himself while he spoke. "Where...is this 'Kunou' you spoke of?" He asked, obviously having a difficult time holding in his anger. JT could tell that whoever was on the receiving end of Ryouga's fury when he finally let it out would be one sorry character. JT pointed slowly to the school doors, where there stood Kunou, in all his self-righteous glory. "That's him" Ryouga moved with a speed JT had never seen before, and despite the fact that Kunou was only a few hundred feet away, JT was surprised not to see Ryouga make a sudden turn and veer off into a field. Ryouga reached Kunou in a few seconds. "Are you Kunou?" Ryouga asked fiercely. "Why yes, I am indeed the great Kunou Tatewaki. And to what honor do I owe this meeting?" Kunou replied in his trademark arrogant tone. Ryouga finally let out some of the anger he was holding in as he spoke. "HOW DARE YOU!" He yelled. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT AKANE LIKE SHE IS YOUR PROPERTY! YOU CAN'T DECIDE WHO SHE DATES! BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID SPEECH SHE HAS TO RUN A GAUNTLET JUST TO GET TO SCHOOL! YOU WILL REGRET EVER MAKING YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE SPEECH!". From where he stood, JT swore Ryouga's eyes were glowing red. He didn't know what to say. Kunou didn't even flinch. Apparently he was used to being yelled at. In a calm voice Kunou replied "Ah...So I see you wish to challenge the magnificent Kunou Tatewaki, most skilled Kendoist in Nerima...Fine. You shall have the battle you seek. Prepare yourself, cur!" And with that, Kunou lashed out with his bokken, hitting Ryouga in the chest. Ryouga took a half step back, then reached forward and stabbed with his umbrella. "I thought he left his backpack at home?" JT wondered, as he pondered the appearance of the umbrella. Then looking down and seeing his own umbrella, he deleted that entire train of thought. Looking back to the fight, he noticed the two combattants were pretty much evenly matched. Kunou had a sizable speed advantage over Ryouga, which he exploited with his rapid bokken strikes, but Ryouga seemed to have a sizable strength advantage over Kunou, to the extent that hitting Kunou with only a bamboo umbrella drove him back an incredible distance. Ryouga was fighting like a man posessed, while Kunou was still smiling, taking things calmly. Ryouga drew back his umbrella to strike, and Kunou struck his hand with the bokken, knocking the umbrella off to the side. Ryouga looked at his umbrella, then turned his attention to the bokken flying at his face. He didn't even flinch. He reached up with his right hand and grabbed the bokken out of mid strike and tore it out of Kunou's hands. He then clenched his right fist and snapped the bokken with one hand. There were gasps of amazement coming from the the gathered crowd. One spectator tried to lift up Ryouga's umbrella and failed miserably. JT saw this and went to pick it up himself. He reached down with one hand to grab the umbrella and tried to pick it up. It didn't move. He tried with both hands, but it still wouldn't budge. Various other students tried to lift it, all of them failing. JT thought back to the bokken, then the umbrella, and wondered how strong Ryouga really was. He turned to watch the rest of the fight, but it was already over. Kunou was on the ground, unconcious. As JT would later learn from other students, after Ryouga had broken the bokken, he had proceeded to beat Kunou repeatedly over the head with the two pieces until Kunou collapsed. Ryouga grabbed his umbrella from the ground and lifted it into the air, the entire crowd gasping at this feat of strength. Ryouga loooked at the swooning girls in the crowd, then walked into the school with JT. Ranma and Akane arrived 20 minutes later and, after dealing with the massive crowd, were surprised to find Kunou already unconcious. Ranma just shrugged and they entered the school, leaving Kunou at the door. JT and Ryouga walked down the halls of Furinkan high toward JTs first class. Somewhere along the line, Ryouga had made a wrong turn and gotten himself lost. JT contemplated looking for him, but reconsidered. "He'll be fine...besides, if I'm late, I might have to go see principal Kunou...". JT shuddered. He continued to walk down the hall. A door on his left opened and Ryouga walked out, followed by several girls. JT stopped and looked at Ryouga in amazement. How did he get ahead of JT? JT would have seen him enter the room...Does this guy teleport? JT was incredibly confused. Ryouga saw JT and ran over to him. "Quick! Get me out of here!" Ryouga whispered, the girls all trying to rub against him and put their arms around him. JT grabbed Ryouga by the shirt and pulled him to class, several times feeling the shirt tense as Ryouga felt the need to break off in a seperate direction. As they entered the classroom, everyone turned to face them. JT ignored the gaze and took a seat next to Nabiki, while Ryouga blushed intensely as he took a seat next to JT. There was sudden chaos as the girls in the class scrambled to relocate themselves to the seats in the immediate vicinity of the new,rugged looking boy. Ryouga flushed even more. Nabiki just sighed. "When will they learn that there's more to a guy than just muscles?" Nabiki muttered, not too loud, but loud enough where JT was reassured by her comment. The teacher walked in and immediately noticed that the attention of half the class was directed towards someone other than himself. The target of their attention wqas a student he couldn't remember seeing before, so he approached the student's desk and questioned him. "What's your name?" "I'm Hibiki Ryouga, sir." There was more chaos as every girl in the class went for her pencil and wrote down the name of this new student. "Are you supposed to be in this class?" the teacher asked. "Actually, sir, I'm here from Okinawa visiting my friend JT. If my presence here is a problem..." He motioned with his head toward the gazing females. "Not at all, young man. It would not be right to deprive a child of the benefits of schooling. It's perfectly OK in my book." With that spoken, the teacher returned to the front of the room and attempted, unsuccessfully, to teach the class. The gilrs were fixated on Ryouga, and the guys were irritated by the girls open preference for someone other than themselves. And Ryouga just sat there looking nervous the entire period, occasionally flashing a smile to try to cover up his embarassment. This would send the girls into a frenzy, and the teacher would once again try to regain control. JT and Nabiki just looked at each other and smirked. They were thinking the same thing, and they both knew it. After the school day was over, JT, Ryouga, and Nabiki walked from the building, relieved to be finally free. The day had seemed to drone on longer than most days, especially for Ryouga, who was under constant 'supervision' by almost the entire female population of Furinkan high. After declining 37 offers to walk him home, Ryouga rejoined JT and Nabiki. They found Ranma and Akane and started to walk home. JT reached out and took Nabiki's hand in his own, turning to smile at her. She turned and reciprocated the smile. JT looked back to make sure Ryouga hadn't gotten himself lost. Ryouga was walking a few steps behind the rest of the group, watching Akane with longing in his eyes. JT could tell what Ryouga was thinking and he felt sorry for him. Akane was engaged to Ranma, so Ryouga didn't have a chance with her. Ryouga really cared about her too, as he had demonstrated by destroying Kunou. But there was no way he would have a chance against an official engagement. He saw a single tear drop from Ryouga's eye, and realized the painful truth must have hit him too. JT heard footsteps approaching and turn to face the source, as did the rest of the group. A young man was running up to them, flailing his arms rapidly to get their attention. When he finally caught up, he tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out through his panting and wheezing. Fianlly, he collected himself and addressed the group. "Could you please show me where the Kunou mansion lies? I'm kind of lost, being new to Japan and all..." he asked. "No problem!" Akane replied. "Always glad to help out a fellow student." With that, the group veered off into the direction of the Kunou mansion. That is, with the exception of Ryouga, who did not veer off toward the mansion. Nor did he continue toward the dojo. Rather, he walked into a dark alley and materialized in Kyoto... The group turned another corner and was met with a spray of water coming from a hose. The party was soaked, and where there had once stood three guys and two girls, there now stood one guy with a demented grin on his face, three girls, and a granite golem. The man turned to survey the situation and started laughing uncontrollably. "HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA! ...HA!" the man laughed as he stared at the golem. JT looked at the laughing man and realized what had happened. The guy who had joined them looking for the Kunou mansion was the guy who had fallen into the spring of drowned Kefka. Now, JT assumed, he was trying to return to his lover, Kodachi. They all looked at each other, realizing what a strange group they were, and broke into laughter. Thast is, all of them except the one who had been laughing already for the past five minutes. They didn't even bother to look for water, they just continued as they were. As they rounded the next corner, however, an old woman appeared, hopping with her cane as if it were a pogo stick. "A golem...how interesting. Haven't seen one of those in years." Kefka's laughing continued. "So, son in law, when do you intend to marry my daughter?" Kefka laughed even more at the old woman referring to the girl as son in law. "Give it up, old ghoul. I'm already engaged. To two fiancees, no less! There's no way I'm going to marry Shampoo! Now leave me alone!" Kefka was still laughing. Cologne turned to address the laughing man. "Will you please stop that?" cologne asked. The laughing continued. Cologne lowered herself to the ground and lifted her staff, ready to strike. "One touch and he won't be making a sound" she stated as she stepped toward Kefka. Kefka watched her approach with the staff, still laughing maniacally. His hand started to glow with a blue tint. He lifted his hand in front of him and pointed his index finger towards Cologne. The glow intensified, then faded as a monstrous tower of flame, 15 feet in diameter, appeared in front of Cologne, stopping her forward movement. She stared wide-eyed. "Magic...I did not think it was possible. Not to this extent." Cologne hopped on her staff and sped quickly away, leaving Kefka laughing and the others amazed. JT could swear he had seen fear in the old woman's eyes. Of course, she was just an old woman...There wasn't much she wouldn't be afraid of, he thought. He turned to see Ranma with the same expression of amazement stuck on his face. "She was scared..." Ranma said. "She isn't afraid of anything...She's an amazon..." continued Ranma. "Amazon?" JT thought to himself. If that were true, then she would be a lot tougher than she looked...but still, the mere presence of magic...how awe-inspiring. JT found himself wondering just how much magic this seemingly insane man could do. They started walking again, arriving at the Kunou mansion soon after. They left Kefka on the doorstep and hurried back to the dojo, everyone still in shock after the 'incident'. As they approached the front entrance to the dojo, they could see Genma and Soun sitting outside, obviously very depressed. As Ranma took a step forward to inquire, there was a black blur and Ranma found himself with a tiny old man firmly attached to his chest. He stared for a moment, shocked at the man's outright lecherous behavior, then he pried the man off and booted him away. Ranma finished walking over to his father. "What are you so depressed about? And what the hell was that? " he asked, gesturing toward the sky. "The answers to your questions are the same, my boy. That was Happosai, the martial arts master who instructed Soun and myself..." "That was your master?" Ranma snickered. "He's just an old lech! How much could he know about martial arts?" The two men stared at Ranma terrified. Genma stood up and smacked his son in the head with his hand. 'Do not speak badly about our master!" "I thought you didn't like him!" Ranma countered "Even if we do not like him, we must respect him! And you must respect him too! He is a legendary fighter!" Genma yelled. "Whatever, pop". Ranma walked into the house for a hot bath. Akane went in to the house next, followed by Nabiki, leaving JT outside alone with the two fathers. Soun looked up at the face of the golem and spoke with a cutting edge to his voice: "Young man, I hope your intentions to my daughter are honorable...if they aren't, I would become very angry..." his voice trailed off as his eyes dropped to the ground. He raised his head again, a very serious look in his eyes. "If I didn't think you were honorable, I would not have permitted you to spend the night in her room. I knew you would not take advantage of her." JT was glad he was in golem form, unable to reply to these hard-hitting words. Soun had known about he and Nabiki? And the night in her room? Yes, he was indeed thankful to be in his cursed form. Nabiki walked out of the house carrying a kettle which she immediately dumped on his head. She giggled at the sight of him naked again, as he ran upstairs to find some clothes. Nabiki was left outside with Genma and her father. "So, dad...what were you talking to JT about?" "Nothing important. We were just discussing the moral qualities that make a good husband." Nabiki flushed, then turned around and went back in the house. Soun turned to look at Genma and they both atarted laughing. JT put on some clothes and opened his door to find Nabiki standing in the doorway. "So, JT. What was dad talking to you about?" she inquired. "He knows I spent the night in your room." Nabiki stood in the doorway, stupified. "What did he say?" she asked nervously. "He said my intentions better be honorable, because if they aren't, he would become very angry." "Hmmm...Well, at least he isn't opposed to us being together. He's probably just irritated by Akane and Ranma refusing to advance their relationship, so he's hoping we'll set an example and they'll follow." "That's one way to think of it, I guess..." wait a minute...did she say... "Advance _our_ relationship? Do you mean..." "Don't tell me you're gonna panic at the thought of marriage like those immature kids Akane and Ranma!" "Of course not! I'm more mature than that!" JT lied. Nabiki looked appraisingly at him. "You're lying." "You're right. I am. I'm not ready for marriage yet. I'm only 18. I'd like to finish school before we discuss marriage. Is that too much of a problem?" "Not at all" she replied, leaning over to give him a quick kiss. He wondered if he really wanted to wait. The more he thought about it, the more he baegan to think he wouldn't be opposed to getting married immediately. After all, what difference would it really make whether they were married or not? They would still be living in the same house, and they would still see each other with the same frequency. Except if they were married, he wouldn't have to worry about Soun's watchful eye. That could be a big plus, JT thought. He broke the embrace with Nabiki and looked into her eyes. "Actually, I don't see a problem with getting married immediately. If you want it that way, I'm in total agreement with you." Nabiki blinked and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "Don't worry. It's OK. I think it's a great idea. Maybe it'll even give Ranma and Akane some ideas." He kissed her still open mouth and she pressed against him. Yes, he indeed loved her, and he realized that he was willing to sacrifice anything to make her happy. She was all he thought about now, and he hoped she felt the same way about him...